Well Pressure Switch

[crokett™]

not mine.  The house I am helping out in.   Water cut out today.  Investigation showed the well pressure switch wasn't turning on when the pressure dropped.  The guy who is doing the building says it has happened a couple times before.   Is that a bad switch, or can the spring be adjusted?  It's a new well and a new switch, or at least the switch is a few months old.

[Stwood_]

$25.00 switch, I'd replace it. I'd say it's defective and adjusting won't cure it.
Those switches can last a lifetime. Good ones are usually Square D.

[fixtureman]

You may want to remove the switch and see if the inlet is not blocked.

[Snipe Hunter]

Is there power to the switch and from the switch? Is the contractor firing? And, switches go bad. Did he crank it down trying to get more pressure? May not fire if they that.

Wouldn't be the 1st time the connections inside a well failed.

[crokett™]

Is there power to the switch and from the switch? Is the contractor firing? And, switches go bad. Did he crank it down trying to get more pressure? May not fire if they that.

Yes.  Yes.  Contractor?  Do you mean contactor?  I dunno.  I've spent most of my life living in houses with well water and funnily I don't know much about pressure switches.  I watched him pry some lever up with a screw driver and the pump kicked on.  After it got to pressure it kicked off.    I will tell him replace the switch.   I don't think he adjusted the switch.  Can we try loosening the spring?  However for 25 bucks or so I'd just replace it.

[Stwood_]

The adjustment changes the pump pressure setting. Lowering it will be low pressure in the house. Raising it you could cause a leak in the house.

They come set at 20-40 is the common one, and the other one is a 30-60 switch for a dab more pressure in the holding/pressure tank.

[crokett™]

The adjustment changes the pump pressure setting. Lowering it will be low pressure in the house. Raising it you could cause a leak in the house.

They come set at 20-40 is the common one, and the other one is a 30-60 switch for a dab more pressure in the holding/pressure tank.

Gotcha.  Looking online that is what it seemed to be.  Thanks for the confirmation. I will tell him to replace it since his relative will be moving in shortly.

[atgcpaul]

30/50 is fairly common for houses unless you have a lot of floors/fixtures and then you step up to 40/60. 20/40 is generally for irrigation systems.

The pressure in the tank should also be adjusted relative to the cut-in pressure (lower value)--typically 2psi less.

[Snipe Hunter]

If there's power to and from the switch... there's a problem down the line. I'd check the connections at the well head. Sometimes people don't use decent, sealed crimps. They go bad after a while if not done right.

[MstrCarpenter]

Yes.  Yes.  Contractor?  Do you mean contactor?  I dunno.  I've spent most of my life living in houses with well water and funnily I don't know much about pressure switches.  I watched him pry some lever up with a screw driver and the pump kicked on.  After it got to pressure it kicked off.    I will tell him replace the switch.   I don't think he adjusted the switch.  Can we try loosening the spring?  However for 25 bucks or so I'd just replace it.

We call that lever a "pump saver". If the house is under construction, is there a chance that the power was temporarily off and water was used? That would cause the pressure in the tank to drop below the typical cut-in pressure, and that type of pressure switch would prevent the pump from starting. The intended purpose is to prevent the pump from starting if it loses prime. It can take less than a minute running dry to cause permanent damage to the impeller and seals. Lift the lever to manually close the contacts and release after the pressure is above set cut-in. It's hard to lift, (similar to a Taco zone valve that's borderline hurting your finger tip) so much so that I've had some people say "It doesn't move".